Saturday, April 7, 2012

How to Choose a Church


How to Choose the Right Church

Are you out of church and thinking of getting started going again?
Are you one of those people who ‘got saved’ watching a television show and want to find a church?

Were you brought up in church, stopped going, and now find yourself feeling a need to attend church again?

Was there a fight in your church that left you broken hearted and even a little bitter? 

Well, whoever you are and whatever the reason, here are a few hints on finding a church that will help you instead of hurt you. 

God tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, so it is important to go to church. This article really isn’t about the reasons for going to church, it is to give a few guidelines in choosing a church you can stick with. 

First, it’s all about the preacher.  He won’t be a perfect human being.  He probably won’t be your new best friend.  He may honestly be very busy man doing necessary things.  He should live up to a moral standard that is acceptable according to the Bible.  AND – he should give a good preaching/teaching sermon every service.  You will be able to tell how much time he spent preparing the sermon by listening.  He can throw in a few jokes, a poem or two, and even burst out in a song every now and then.  He can shout sometimes, or talk in a normal voice.  What matters is the content.  The sermon has to be a prepared sermon based solidly on scripture.  If the sermons are ‘feel good’ ‘get along’ sermons then forget that church.  Sometimes a sermon will make you feel good.  Sometimes a sermon can bring reconciliation between estranged people, but that is a by-product of solid Bible teaching.  It really is all about the preacher. 

A church will have a Statement of Faith which will tell you what the church believes.  This is good.  However, it may have been written more than a generation ago and the current leaders and congregation of the church may not feel the same way.  You need to talk to the preacher in person and question him to see if you are at least on the same page when it comes to theology.  Remember the fundamentals of the faith:

Inerrancy of scripture

Pre-existence and Deity of Christ

Virgin Birth

Literal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

If the preacher hum-haw’s around or tries to sidestep these issues, then hit the road.  He isn’t a real preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Second, if at all possible in your area, you want a preacher that uses the King James Version of the Bible.  I recommend the Thompson Chain Reference Bible.  I use it and I love it. 

Third, you want a song service that uses the hymnal.  The hymnal will keep the music in line to teach additional Bible truths and comforts.  There is nothing that compares to the hymnal EXCEPT the Bible itself.  Do not trivialize the song service by pretending that music doesn’t matter or by accepting worldly music to help get people in the mood to worship.  Don’t get caught up in the forced emotionalism of the 7-11 style of music.  That is a song that has 7 words sung 11 times.  Sometimes it is ‘sung softly as a prayer’, or ‘sung loudly to a rock band’, but it is still a human attempt to force an emotional response.  Any emotion produced by such so-called worship music will probably not last past the church parking lot, much less through the next day.

The song service matters. 

Fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on…. 

People are often looking for a church where they ‘feel at home’, where there are a lot of activities, and where friends can be made.  All these are nice, but they are not reasons for choosing a church. They are sort of like by-products.  A Bible teaching preacher and a song service that worships God instead of emotion produces the good soil in which a tenderhearted sincere group of Christians may grow.  In that atmosphere you may come to feel at home and make eternal friends.

I have seen many Christians who are the ‘walking wounded’.  They went to church faithfully and somehow wound up in what seemed like the middle of a war zone.  People who were supposed to be Christians, and may even actually be Christians, acted like the devil’s own agents, and the church split right down the middle.  So called friends took one path.  Other friends wouldn’t choose a side.  The church almost fell apart.  They stopped going to church.  The needed time to ‘heal’. Years went by and they were still ‘healing’.  A wounded heart became the devil’s tool to lead them away from the Lord.  

I would also be careful in joining a church where they want to ‘put you to work’ immediately.  IF you have been out of church a while, or just going through the trauma of a move, you are not ready to minister to others right at that moment. The church needs to take time to get to know you and you need time to get to know the church.  If they give people positions of power such as teaching a Sunday School class or working with the youth without knowing them well, they are not cautious regarding error creeping into a church.  I currently know of a large church that is going through a rough time because of lack of oversight regarding ‘ministries’ of the church.  Gross error was being taught as truth, and many new Christians have been led astray.  A word of caution here to parents – be very careful the church classes and activities in which you allow your children to participate.  Be even more careful who is allowed to teach them.  Often a ‘role model’ is considered a youthful person who looks nice and is willing to take on a challenge like teaching or leading a group of children or youths.  In reality – this so called role model may be so Bible ignorant they don’t even know the fundamentals of the faith.  They are really just a social director, not a Bible teacher.  They may be sincere, but it is just this sort of person the devil uses to bring in doctrinal errors that can even lead some all the way to hell.  When in doubt, keep you kid in ‘big church’ and cut out questionable activities.  Your goal is to raise your child to love God and keep the commandments.  It isn’t to raise someone who is only a social or cultural Christian. 

All these are things to be considered when choosing a church, but the fundamentals are the same.

It’s the preacher.

It’s the fundamentals of the faith.

It’s the song service.

If you can get these things in a church then you have a good place to grow as a Christian.

You have a good place to raise up a family that loves the God of the Bible.

 Don’t let the devil cheat you out of your blessings because Christians are still sinners.  I know churches are full of hypocrits, but then so is the grocery store.  You won't escape hypocrits this side of heaven.

Find a church home. 

Attend faithfully.   

Your job as church member is to attend as faithfully as your health allows, to be continually learning and growing in understanding of Bible theology and doctrine, and to watch for error creeping in.  Eventually the Lord may lead you to take a more active role in the church.  When God asks you to do something, be ready to do it.  In the meantime, don’t be brow beaten into taking a position in the church that you do not feel qualified or called to do. 

If you are a Christian who has been out of church, a Christian whose church fell apart, or a Christian moving to a new area, the time to find a new church is right now.  Don’t forsake personal Bible study and prayer, but also remember Hebrews 10:23-25

23.  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

24.  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25.  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

Here’s a wonderful song from the hymnal to get you going.



I Am Resolved

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/a/m/iamresol.htm



I am resolved no longer to linger,

 Charmed by the world’s delight,

 Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

 These have allured my sight.



Refrain



I will hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;

 Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

 I will hasten, hasten to Him, hasten so glad and free;

 Jesus, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.



I am resolved to go to the Savior,

 Leaving my sin and strife;

 He is the true One, He is the just One,

 He hath the words of life.



Refrain



I am resolved to follow the Savior,

 Faithful and true each day;

 Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth,

 He is the living Way.



Refrain



I am resolved to enter the kingdom

 Leaving the paths of sin;

 Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me,

 Still will I enter in.



Refrain



I am resolved, and who will go with me?

 Come, friends, without delay,

 Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit,

 We’ll walk the heav’nly way.



Refrain

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

How Important is the Truth?


Is the Truth More Important than Just Getting Along?

What stops people from all getting along? 
Hard-heartedness?
Arrogance?
Ignorance?
Emotionalism?
Language barrier?
Religious or ideological differences?
Skin color?
Economic differences?
Cultural differences?
Lies?
All of the above?

I am going to pick four.
1.  The hardness of the heart.
2.  Language barriers.
3.  Religious and/or ideological differences.
4.  Lies.

James 4:1 says, ‘From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?’

The war starts within the individual whose heart is hardened toward God.  They are ruled by the things of the material world instead of the things of God.  If a man is jealous of his neighbor’s house, job, or wife, why not expand that to jealous of the neighboring nation’s houses, land, and people?  If a man or woman is not at peace with God, they cannot possibly establish a real or lasting peace within themselves, much less with their own family, and much less with those around them.

Language barriers certainly make for misunderstandings and lack of unity.  Even the same language but spoken in a different dialect can cause misunderstandings. 

Religious and ideological differences naturally pit people against each other.  If one is right, the other must be wrong. Nobody likes to have their personal life challenged. 

Lying is a common denominator for all of the above.

A hard heart is first necessary to be a lying heart.  To be a bold and bald faced liar requires a very hard heart.  This requires an ability to lie to one’s self on some level.  Ultimately, war begins in the heart of the individual and it spreads as far as it can go. 

Liars are not always easily spotted.  That is because they usually are able to lie to themselves. Liars are often quite cunning as well. One very effective tactic is to tell a lot of truth mixed in with a dreadful lie. Another very effective tactic they use is to simply change the subject.  Instead of trying to lie their way out of or into a particular situation, they simply act like the question is really something else.  For instance the war on terror has become a ‘question’ of ‘racial profiling’ instead of actually fighting a war on terror.  To a rational mind it is insane for homeland security to do what amounts to a physical assault on elderly people and small children who are simply trying to board a passenger plane.  It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with locating terrorists.  It is about cowards and bullies being careful not to profile likely terrorists. 

As hideous as the homeland security assault on the freedoms of the innocent may be, there is an evil circumnavigating the globe that is far worse.  It is an assault on the truth that is straight from hell.  There is a hideous coalition between Moslems and ‘Christians’ looking for similarities between Islam and Christianity that will bring about peace.  Evangelicals are not included in these meetings because Evangelicals would not be able to restrain themselves from attempting to convert Moslems. 

The absolute and unquestionable truth is that the Bible clearly states there is one way and only one way into heaven.  Allah’s book clearly gives a totally different way to get into the place Allah calls heaven.  THAT is the reason there is conflict between the two.  Can we find similarities between the two?  If they look hard enough and long enough there can probably some things that appear similar.  So what?  There are similarities between poison mushrooms and edible mushrooms.  If you find the similarities does that mean you can eat both poison and non-poison mushrooms without suffering the consequences?  The similarities do not change the fact that eating poison mushrooms will kill you!  Any so-called similarities between Islam and Christianity do not change the fact that both claim there is only one way into heaven, but they claim the way is different.  What matters is not any ‘similarities’.  What matters is which is the truth.  Is Jesus Christ who He claimed/claimes to be or is Mohammad correct in demanding worship of the god of the book written entirely by Mohammad?

Eating or not eating poison mushrooms is a life or death situation.  Choosing to follow Jesus Christ or Mohammad is a matter of eternal life or death.  Jesus Christ says following Him is the way that leads to life everlasting.  Jesus also says that rejecting Him leads to eternal torment in a place called hell.  Allah’s book claims he is the way into the place he calls heaven.  Allah demands murder of those who reject him as a guarantee of entrance into his heaven.  Jesus Christ requires simple belief in Him.  Those who have committed their life to Jesus Christ don’t have to do anything else to enter heaven. The God of the Bible died so sinners could be saved from hell and enter the kingdom of heaven.  The god of the Koran demands that people die slaughtering others in order to get into his paradise.  I really don’t see the benefit of working so hard to get into a place filled with murders.  Actually, that sounds like hell to me.

I could list a lot of differences between Christianity and Islam, but the main difference, the deal breaker in any sort of ‘compromise’ or ‘merger’ between the two, is Jesus Christ.  Christians accept Him as God, pre-existent, virgin born, crucified to death, buried, risen from the dead by his own power, and returning to earth to set up His kingdom. Islam claims Jesus was just a minor prophet, and very unimportant prophet at that.

Now how is anyone who takes either Jesus or Allah seriously going to find any similarities in that?  You cannot reconcile those differences.  Either Jesus Christ is telling the truth about who He is, or Mohammad is telling the truth about who Allah is. 

A second deadly difference between Christianity and Islam is the method of conversion.  If the God of the Bible had wanted people in His kingdom who had no choice in the matter, He would not have given human beings free will to choose Him or reject Him in the first place.  Those who go to Christ go of their own free will.  There have been instances where so-called Christians converted by force.  That is totally against what the Bible teaches and is an abomination to God.  Islam on the other hand is only following the Koran’s teaching when they convert by force.  If there is no conversion, they slaughter those who refuse to convert. 

That makes two differences in Christianity and Islam over which there can be no compromise.
Either Jesus Christ is the Son of God or He isn’t.
Either salvation is by grace through faith as the Bible says, or it is brought about through bullying to the point of murder.

Practically speaking – what does this mean?
It definitely means there is a fork in the road. 
Those following Allah to paradise are absolutely NOT going down the road that leads to heaven where Jesus Christ is preparing a place for those who love Him.  

Looking for similarities instead of pointing out the irreconcilable differences between Christianity and Islam paves the path to hell for many of the lost. 

It is important to mention one more thing.  Over and over we hear that Islam is a religion of peace that has been hijacked by evil people.  This is not the truth.  Actually in this you can find a similarity between Islam and Christianity.  Many and probably most people professing either faith are marginal adherents.  They don’t really read their book or apply it to their lives.  When a person begins to take their faith seriously, they read the book and begin to apply what it says to their lives. 
The Koran undoubtedly teaches to kill those who don’t accept Islam.  When a Moslem begins to take his religion seriously, he begins to do what the book says to do.
The Bible definitely teaches to love one another as Christ loves us; that Christ took the penalty for the sinner; that salvation is by grace through faith; and people have free will to accept or reject Jesus Christ.  When a Christian begins to take his/her faith seriously he/she begins to do the things Christ says to do.

There are millions of people in the middle in both Christianity and Islam.  They are social, or cultural believers, but they don’t take it really seriously.  In the case of Islam, they may be followers of Allah just to protect their lives, but they still don’t actually take it seriously as in actually doing what the book says to do.

So, the question becomes how seriously do you take your faith?  If it is just a cultural or social or political convenience, then you may be able to be content to look for the similarities between major religions of the world.  If you believe the Bible is true and that Jesus is the Son of God, then you will have to speak up when given the opportunity.

What Christians have on their side is the truth which is that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  The word of God has a power all its own, far beyond the ability of any orator to excel. 

Memorize and remember this:
Hebrews 4:12
 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Pray that Christians will have the courage to simply tell the truth.  Jesus saves. 



Thursday, March 8, 2012

Profiling Jesus Christ


Profiling

Are you one of those nuts who has searched genealogy records until you have a family tree the size of a giant redwood?  Don’t feel bad.  It is sort of like an addiction.  You really can’t help it.  I now you can’t help it because I can’t help it either.  Ok, I actually didn’t personally work that hard at it.  A relative did most of the work.  I just bought the book.  Of course the book was published years ago and is out of date, but then who cares about living relatives?  After all, if they are relatives who are still alive you have to talk to them and even socialize with them.  It opens a whole new can of worms when it comes to a family getting along smoothly. (For adoptees searching for family there should be an entirely different category.  Their search is different. My heart certainly goes out to them, and I wish them well.)

Most of us can be very thankful for the blessings of family and for the help and comfort given to us by our family through all sorts of trials.  Still, there may be a few relatives we don’t care to know any better than we already know them.  Now, ancestors from our distant past can be a lot of fun.  We can imagine they were the perfect or heroic relative that everyone would love to have in his or her past.  We can ignore the fact that even semi-perfect and heroic people are in fact just people.  They would have had really good qualities and a few irritating quirks about them just like favorite relatives living still.

If you have an interesting relative from the past how could you get to sort of know that person?  This is beyond just filling in the blanks on a genealogy chart.  This would be knowing enough about that person to actually feel like you knew them personally.  It is time to profile when you want more than a name filling in its proper slot in the genealogy chart.  You want to feel like you sat down and chatted with them over a stiff cup of tea and slice of homemade pie.

If you can come up with a photo or two that would be nice.  Just studying the face sort of gives an impression of what a person is like.  If you can’t get a photo, just imagine someone who is average in every way until you get to know them. 

Can you find out what they did with their life?  Shoe maker?  Farmer?  Home-maker? Married?  Church goer? 

 You can find out all that, but you still just know about that person.  You really don’t know that person.  It seems the only real way to know the person who has captured your interest is to know someone who knew that person.  Or, perhaps there might be letters or other written material mentioning the person you want to know. 

In my husband’s family there is a person of interest to most of us.  It is Jerry’s uncle who was killed D-day, 1944.  We have talked to those who knew him, especially those in the family.  All we really know is that he ‘was a very nice person’ and people burst into tears when his name is mentioned.  So, we really didn’t get much out of them.  Even all these years later, that is really all we know.  People who served with him the war are not prone to burst into tears, they just get a little choked up.  They say the same thing. ‘He was a very nice person; what a shame; what a friend; I think of him often;’ and things like that.  They don’t even mention what a hero he was.  They just say he was very nice.  We do know he was brought up in a Baptist church under a good preacher.  He was a professing Christian.  His army buddies said he was definitely a g-rated guy.  He was barely 25 when he was killed while carrying wounded to safety.

 So, it is sort of a dead end.  Even with what we do know, we really don’t know that much.  We strongly suspect he had a subtle sense of humor like his brother Elson.  We know he had a sort of goofy walk like my husband and son.  It is hard to describe.  We do know that on more than one occasion he ‘spoke French’ to a vehicle he was working on.  That’s about it.  We know these things from reading ‘One More Hill’ by Frankly Johnson.  If you read Frank’s book, the man he calls ‘Pappy’ is Gerald.  Although Gerald was only 25 when he died, he was the old guy in the outfit, so they called him pappy.  By the way, Franks’ book was recently re-published and is required reading at West Point and several other places.  http://www.ww2awards.com/person/42749  tells a little about Gerald’s last earthly day.

 We all know something else.  We know that based on his faith in Jesus Christ, we will see him in heaven.  THEN we can all really get to know him and talk about whatever people talk about in heaven.  I am sure it will be things that are very interesting and that the food will be excellent.

 But, in the meantime, the profiling goes on.  I was thinking about this recently due to a family member getting a duplicate set of Gerald’s medals.  But I started thinking about someone else from history and eternity that everyone needs to get to know better.  That is Jesus Christ. 

 Today there are people who have such a small concept of Jesus that they confuse him with Allah and bunch of other beings who claim to be God. 

 In profiling Jesus we have a written book filled with information about Jesus that will help get started, and carry through to a truthful profile of Jesus.  Through these writing people have the opportunity to get a clear picture of who Jesus is and what He did and what He does.  It is the Bible.

 The Bible is unique among books.  God used many authors to write the book.  Each author wrote the words of God, but was allowed to write in a style peculiar to that author. 

The first four books of the New Testament tell us many things about Jesus.  Each was written by a different person with a different perspective, but each book tells the same story.

 They tell us Jesus was the virgin born Son of God.

They tell us Jesus was crucified to death, buried, rose the third day, was seen by many people, and ascended to heaven to be with the Father, leaving the promise He was coming back.

 Those are key points in the life of Christ.  However, we are also given much more information about Jesus in the Bible.



We know that:
Jesus loved children.  Of children He said, ‘Such is the kingdom of heaven.’
Jesus had compassion.  He was always feeding the hungry and healing the sick.
Jesus had power never seen in a mere human being before or after Him.
Jesus had power to raise the dead.
Jesus came especially to seek out and save those lost – those separated from God because God is perfect and they are not.  The Bible calls them sinners.  Today we think of a ‘sinner’ as a very evil person.  In truth a sinner is anyone who isn’t entirely perfect and righteous.
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance.
Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world.
Jesus died to make a way to enter heaven for those who turn to Him.

Also in profiling Jesus we can follow the prophecies of Moses and the Prophets found from Genesis to Malachi.  We have the entire Bible to use in getting to know Jesus.

 This is not a scientific paper, or a paper written to get a passing grade from a university professor watching to see if my references are all correct.  It is really intended to challenge those who would consider a profile done of a criminal as gospel truth, but doubt the truth and authority of the Bible.  Do a profile of Jesus Christ.  Do it honestly with the intention of determining the truth.  Look at the evidence.  Set personal feelings aside. 

 There is historical evidence for Jesus from different eye witnesses clearly recorded in the Bible.

Pay strict attention to the eye witness evidence of Jesus’ character.  Watch what He did in specific situations, how He reacted to pain and suffering, and how He took the penalty of sin on Himself.  These things will help you not to confuse Jesus with other’s who claim to have a way of salvation also.  People have a right to follow others instead of Jesus, but they cannot combine Jesus with any other and still be truthful. 

 The resurrection of Jesus is unique among religions.  Most want to say Jesus did not rise from the dead.  The evidence that He did rise again is overwhelming.  For instance, the behavior of His followers gives clear evidence that He did indeed rise from the dead.  Consider that when Jesus was crucified, almost all of His followers deserted Him and ran away.  They went straight back to their old lives.  Or perhaps they went further into riotous living than before they met Jesus.  After all, Peter went fishing naked after Jesus was crucified.  I don’t read he was a naked fisherman when Jesus first called Him.  BUT, when they met the risen Jesus their lives changed.  They recognized and acknowledged who He really is.  They followed Him for the rest of their lives under trying circumstances that led to the death of most of them.  Of course there is other evidence.  It can be found in the Bible. 

 To profile Jesus:
Ask your questions
Weigh the answers given in the Bible
Test the arguments

 Look at the prophecies fulfilled.

Look for prophecies yet to be fulfilled such as the two witnesses who will proclaim Jesus from Jerusalem for 3 ½ years.

Look for false prophets who have no mention in the Bible. For instance there is no prophecy of Joseph Smith and the Mormons, nor any indication of the blatant changes made to the Bible in the book written by Joseph Smith.  It isn’t there.  Don’t be fooled.

Neither is there any prophecy of Mohammad or any of the things he wrote in his book.  Don’t be fooled.  By the way, Mohammad denied Jesus was crucified at all.

Neither did Jesus teach that all roads lead to heaven.  He taught no one was going to heaven except through Him.

Neither did Jesus teach that ‘if your good works outweigh your bad works you will get into heaven’.  He taught salvation by grace through faith and not of works.

 Honestly, in doing a profile of Jesus Christ you are doing a profile of truth.  In profiling anyone you want to get at the truth.  If you have a relative you want to be a genius philanthropist, you won’t find that person in a truthful profile if he/she was really a poor person with limited intelligence.  The point of a profile is an accurate and truthful picture of the person you are profiling.  If you are profiling an ancestor, then it really doesn’t matter if you kid yourself a little – or even a lot.  In profiling Jesus Christ it matters.  It matters for eternity. 

 Here are a few songs that ‘profile’ heaven.

In heaven I will see daddy and granddad and my father in law and his brother Gerald.

These beloved people are there waiting for us in the place where Jesus is. 

In the Sweet By and By

Goin’ Home


 Pearly White City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykzDg_cb3jQ

 Take My Hand Precious Lord
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNrVed6dP6s

 Across the Bridge (there’s no more sorrow)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-FYGjhwo40


In doing a profile of Jesus Christ those seeking to really know Him will see the way into heaven.

He is the way that leads to life everlasting.

 In this world in which we live, Christians have so many distractions it is often difficult to stay focused on the things that matter.  It is time for every Christian to do a self-profile and see if what value they place on their citizenship in heaven.  Everyone of us could probably at least tweak our actions here on earth to do a little better.

We don’t have words to describe heaven.  We really don’t even have the mental capacity to understand the wonders of heaven.  We do know it will be better than anything we can imagine.  It will be filled with the wonder of little children.  We also know there is room for all those we can show the way to Jesus.  Part of our personal Christian profile should be our willingness to point others to Jesus.   Our strength is in the Lord.  He will strengthen us to tell others the wonderful words of life found only in Jesus Christ.

 Wonderful Words of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb5Pu_QXKsI

Rock of Ages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJW22t143bw

 His Eye is On the Sparrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGcrd_ZD8pc

 There is Coming a Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIUNezJv88w


My friends, there really is a day coming.  There is still time to improve your own Christian profile. Tell the world that Jesus saves, and no other has the words of life.


And just for good measure remember the Old Rugged Cross.  Our Christian profile is really a way of telling others how important that cross is to us. 

The Old Rugged Cross
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDCK7J7pWtk&feature=related